Miami developer revising, reviving Melbourne project

Miami-based SH Communities is revising a master plan to develop 257 acres of wooded land in Melbourne.

An affiliate of SH bought the land for $13 million in 2005, and in 2006, the City of Melbourne approved the company’s proposal to develop 1,381 single-family homes, villas and townhouses spread across 14 mini-neighborhoods.

But that development, called Mayfair Isles, never advanced after the real estate market crashed in 2007.

City council members unanimously agreed in April to consider rezoning the land and terminating agreements with SH related to the Mayfair Isles project.

The 257-acre tract is east of Babcock Street, south of Florida Avenue, west of Lipscomb Street and north of Pirate Lane. The land, wedged between Palm Bay High School and Melbourne Central Catholic High School, is among the biggest remaining wooded tracts in Melbourne.

Phil Nohrr, a Melbourne attorney for the developer, told city council members that the revised SH master plan will be a catalyst for growth in southern Melbourne. [Florida Today] — Mike Seemuth